Oklahoma! at Western Illinois University

The 'G2K' Getting To Know Series: Uniquely adapted musicals specifically for youth performers.

Rodgers & Hammerstein's first collaboration remains, in many ways, their most innovative, having set the standards and established the rules of musical theatre still being followed today. Set in a Western Indian territory just after the turn of the century, the high-spirited rivalry between the local farmers and cowboys provides the colorful background against which Curly, a handsome cowboy, and Laurey, a winsome farm girl, play out their love story. Although the road to true love never runs smooth, with these two headstrong romantics holding the reins, love's journey is as bumpy as a surrey ride down a country road. That they will succeed in making a new life together we have no doubt, and that this new life will begin in a brand-new state provides the ultimate climax to the triumphant OKLAHOMA!

In this adaptation for pre-high school students, the content has been edited to better suit younger attention spans, but all the elements that make this show a classic are still in place. You and your students will be enchanted by the timeless story and the dazzling score, while at the same time learning about theater and its production.

Music by Rodgers, Richard; Book and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II; Based on the play GREEN GROW THE LILACS by Lynn Riggs; Original Dances by Agnes de Mille

Authors

• Lynn Riggs
• Oscar Hammerstein II
• Richard Rodgers

Tony Awards and Nominations for Oklahoma!